Congratulations to the 2012 Partners HealthCare Charlestown Merit Scholarship Recipients: Caitlee Carrier and Sarah Shaheen

Two students who live in Charlestown, Caitlee Carrier and Sarah Shaheen, are the recipients of the 2012 Partners Health Care Merit Scholarship, sponsored by three Partners HealthCare affiliates in Charlestown: MGH Charlestown Health Center, MGH Institute of Health Professions, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Caitlee Carrier, a life-long resident of Charlestown, is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in health care management at Elms College in Chicopee, where she will be entering her junior year in September. Carrier received a $3,500 scholarship.

Sarah Shaheen, a new resident to the neighborhood, is attending MGH Institute of Health Professions where she is in the school’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program. She received a $2,500 scholarship.

The two women received the scholarships during a July 25 event at the MGH Institute’s Charlestown Navy Yard campus.

This is the third year that three Partners HealthCare affiliates—the MGH Institute, MGH Charlestown HealthCare Center, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital—have collaborated to present these awards. The scholarship, which has been given for the past 9 years to Charlestown residents, has grown from one $1,500 award to two awards totaling $6,000.

Carrier decided to pursue a health care career after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer while she was attending Mount St. Joseph Academy in Brighton. After helping her mother during chemotherapy, she knew going into health care was the right decision for her.   “I was meant to be in health care,” Carrier said.

Caitlee has been involved in the Charlestown community for years. Her involvement has included alter serving at St. Francis de Sales Parish, umpiring for Charlestown Little League, walking for five years with a team of Charlestown residents in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, and being a camp counselor at the Charlestown Boys and Girls Club.

Once she receives her bachelor’s, she plans to stay a fifth year at Elms to get her master’s in health care management, and then begin a career working in a hospital.

Like many students who are in direct-entry programs at the MGH Institute, Shaheen discovered her true calling after she had received her undergraduate degree, in this case from Fairfield University. She originally thought she would become an editor.

Shaheen was inspired to pursue a health care career after helping a friend recover from an injury. She saw how physical therapy helped transform him back to the outgoing person he was prior to the injury, and decided she wanted to have the chance to make an impact in peoples’ lives on a regular basis.

"Training the next generation of clinicians and leaders in healthcare is one of the cornerstones of Spaulding's mission. We are so proud to play our part in ensuring that our new friends and neighbors in Charlestown are given the support they need to pursue their education to have the chance for opportunities in healthcare careers," said Oz Mondejar, Vice President of Community Relations and Human Resources at Spaulding Rehabilitation Network.